Open water

The small lake north of me opened up enough for some shore fishing and in spite of a 30+ degree temperature drop, heavy clouds, a smoking wind shift and quickly rising barometer I got some gear together and hit it this morning. It turned out to be a wise decision.

A purple/chartreuse paddletail was on the line from last fall and I never had to change it out today in spite of catching 33 crappies. There's not much left of the bait but that's fine. I kept six between 12 and 13+ inches for dinner tonight and they sure were good. Can't beat fresh crappies from cold water. The water temp was at 45 degrees. My journals showed this to be the earliest I have found 45 degree water on this lake in over 30 years of journaling it. In fact this is only the second time I have recorded 45 degree water at any time in March.

I was fishing over about 10 feet of water down about 4 feet under a float and the hits were solid. What a great day even if the fishing was only for 40 minutes.